Full Text of HR0732 094th General Assembly
HR0732 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois House of Representatives is pleased | 3 |
| to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of those | 4 |
| individuals who strive to improve not only themselves, but the | 5 |
| world around them; and
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| WHEREAS, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, from the African country of | 7 |
| Ghana, is a man who has excelled both as an athlete and as a | 8 |
| champion for the rights of the disabled; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Yeboah had many challenges to overcome in his | 10 |
| early life; he was born without a tibia in his right leg, which | 11 |
| left his leg useless and withered; and
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| WHEREAS, In Ghana, at the time, it was a commonly-held | 13 |
| belief that a deformity of a child was caused by a sin of the | 14 |
| mother; because of his son's deformed leg, Mr. Yeboah's father | 15 |
| abandoned his family, and the friends of Mr. Yeboah's mother | 16 |
| encouraged her to kill or, at the very least, abandon her | 17 |
| disabled son; and
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| WHEREAS, Comfort Yeboah, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah's mother, | 19 |
| chose, instead, to nurture and encourage her firstborn son; | 20 |
| Comfort Yeboah made the radical decision to send her disabled | 21 |
| son to primary school instead of sending him to the streets as | 22 |
| a beggar; and
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| WHEREAS, Comfort Yeboah died when her son was 13, and | 24 |
| Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah was forced to drop out of school; he | 25 |
| moved to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where he shined shoes for | 26 |
| $2 a day; and | 27 |
| WHEREAS, Seeking to prove that a disability is not an | 28 |
| insurmountable challenge, in September of 2001, Mr. Yeboah, | 29 |
| with the support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, |
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| embarked on a bicycle ride across his home country; with the | 2 |
| use of only one leg and wearing a shirt that read "The Pozo", | 3 |
| which is slang for a disabled person, Mr. Yeboah completed the | 4 |
| 379-mile ride across Ghana; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Yeboah's courageous efforts garnered media | 6 |
| attention both in Ghana and around the world; Mr. Yeboah has | 7 |
| used that media attention to champion the rights of the | 8 |
| disabled; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, In cooperation with King Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori | 10 |
| Panin of Akyem Abuadwa and with the Free Wheelchair Mission, | 11 |
| Mr. Yeboah has helped provide free wheelchairs to disabled | 12 |
| persons around the world; since 2001, the Free Wheelchair | 13 |
| Mission has distributed more than 24,000 wheelchairs in 37 | 14 |
| developing countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Egypt, | 15 |
| Ghana, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Rwanda, and Zambia; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, In his home country, Mr. Yeboah has started a | 17 |
| cycling team, a wheelchair basketball team, and a running team | 18 |
| for physically challenged athletes, and he is currently working | 19 |
| on starting a sports academy for disabled athletes; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, The government of Ghana is taking steps to improve | 21 |
| the quality of life for its disabled citizens; in September of | 22 |
| 2005, the government of Ghana indicated that, during its next | 23 |
| session, the Parliament of Ghana would pass a Disability Bill | 24 |
| to help remove barriers and obstacles that obscure the | 25 |
| developmental efforts of people with disabilities; and | 26 |
| WHEREAS, The efforts of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, King | 27 |
| Osagyefuo, the Parliament of Ghana, and countless others have | 28 |
| gone a long way toward allowing persons with disabilities to | 29 |
| live with purpose and dignity, but, as always, more can be | 30 |
| done; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 |
| we recognize and applaud the outstanding achievements of | 4 |
| Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah both as an athlete and as a champion for | 5 |
| the rights of the disabled; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge the Parliament of Ghana to increase | 7 |
| its efforts to protect and improve the lives of its disabled | 8 |
| citizens and to pass conscientious legislation to ensure the | 9 |
| rights of the disabled; and be it further | 10 |
| RESOLVED, That we applaud King Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin | 11 |
| of Akyem Abuadwa for using his name and authority to improve | 12 |
| the status of Ghana's many physically disabled persons; and be | 13 |
| it further | 14 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the citizens of Illinois to take | 15 |
| part in the continuing efforts around the globe to make it | 16 |
| possible for those with physical disabilities to live their | 17 |
| lives with purpose, dignity, and value; and be it further | 18 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| delivered to Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, King Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori | 20 |
| Panin, and the Parliament of Ghana.
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